Mark Kotsay, Lawrence Butler, Tommy White react to Athletics' 4-2 win vs. Twins
Mark Kotsay, Lawrence Butler, and Tommy White speak to media after the Athletics' win against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at Sutter Health Park.
Mark Kotsay, Lawrence Butler, Tommy White react to Athletics' 4-2 win vs. Twins originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
So great outings last time out to bounce back tonight.
What'd you think of his outing overall?
Yeah, tonight, I mean, from, it seemed like from pitch one, everything was in sync.
His mechanics looked great.
You know, I think he, he, made a conscious effort to stay online and, and pound the zone.
Probably I would say, I don't wanna say it was his best outing, but it was definitely one of the top, you know, for him to get into the seventh inning, only give up a, an infield single really, to that point.
So, you know, 90, 94, 95 pitches into the seventh, I thought it, it was a great night for him.
Talked about the bullpen a lot.
What'd you think tonight just of the way kind of things worked out there with Harris and going to Medina and Alvarado and the job that they did?
Yeah, you know, those three, like we talked about pre-game, they're the guys that are gonna pitch in those up games.
And, you know, I think there's obviously, tonight using Hogan in the seventh, it was m- more or less game on the line in my opinion to shut that inning down, and it was a safe situation really.
So, you know, I think him and Alvarado, and, and Medina all threw the ball really well tonight and, gave us a, you know, gave us a win.
Yes.
You always talk about the importance about, getting runs with two outs and also, adding on.
Both of those situation happened today because the, the four runs were all with two outs.
Yeah.
And, by the way, Cortes one and two.
And then, adding on because those two runs you add on, could you talk about all of that s- scenario of the offense?
Yeah, I thought, you know, obviously the Cortes home run was big to give us a lead.
We talk a lot about wanting to play with the lead and, and then, you know, giving some margin for error with the add-on runs.
I think that at bat by Butler, I believe it was a two strike pitch and, that was called a ball, to give him a chance to, to get on base and, and then put a couple of ba- bats behind him, like you're talking about.
So offensively we did a, a nice job tonight.
There was maybe one play defensively.
You know, in that seventh inning, obviously Gage gets a ground ball.
On Clemens he beats it out by, you know, to replay a half step maybe.
If that double play is turned, there's a good chance that Gage finishes the seventh.
And then Hogan's, you know, first batter, the pop up down the right field line.
So there were some things that went against us.
Bolty's ball, the triple, the ball rolled on top of the padding.
If it lodges behind the padding and the netting, it's, it's another run.
So, you know, we talk sometimes about luck and I didn't feel like we had luck tonight, but we won the game.
Yeah.
Could you please talk about that play where they had about five infielders looking for the little fly ball and the ball call, and that's the first hit of the game by the way.
Oh, you're counting the pitcher in the five?
Y- yes, of course.
Pitcher, pitcher doesn't need to be involved in that play.
Of course.
But yes.
But he was the first one looking.
Zach called it, Tommy called him off.
So obviously there's a lack of communication there.
Tommy, if he's gonna make that call, he needs to get to the baseball.
You know, he was pretty upset by, his decision, as he should be.
But, that'll be cleaned up.
You talked a little bit pre-game about Tommy White and, like, hi- him coming into his own and that the power will come eventually, but that RBI double there for him, and it also added on as well.
But can you just talk about that for him as a young player and how important that is to his growth?
Yeah, I mean, big, big at bat for Tommy there.
You know, driving the baseball.
He's, he's hit that right center field wall a few times.
He's got one over it, which is a good sign because as young hitters, when you can control that offside gap, the pull power will start and it'll happen.
And, I think that's the right progression for Tommy.
What was the argument there with, McNeil?
Was it that he didn't swing or was there some other technicality you guys were looking at?
Well, I was looking at if I challenged the play, and challenged that it didn't hit him, they would had to rule that the, the ball hit the bat and that it went foul and then they could rule it was a foul ball.
So, it was my impression that, you know, once the, the play happened, he swung, there wasn't enough to overturn it to where it hit the bat, you know, just the bat and, I didn't want to use the challenge there.
Cotts, talking about impression, what's b- what's your impression of, Carlos Cortes playing this season?
You know, it's, it's been kind of a, a tale of two seasons for Carlos.
You know, he obviously got off to a great start.
You know, Carlos has been playing, quite a bit this season.
Which, you know, for him the role that we were, had him in last year, it wasn't an everyday role, it wasn't a consistent role, but he did a phenomenal job.
So overall I think Carlos has done a nice job.
He's, he's a, he's a solid player.
Someone we can, you know, you know, utilize in different ways, especially with the core when the core is back as a, you know, a guy that, that can play as a fourth, fifth outfielder, give great at bat off the bench.
You know, these last two weeks or so, you can see that his, his at bats have gotten better.
There's still some things that he can work on to, to be a better pure hitter, all around, but overall, he's still a good piece for us.
Just talking to Cotts, he mentioned you staying online and just kind of cutting the zone might have been one of your better outings this year.
Do you feel, that was the case?
How do you kind of evaluate this outing overall?
Yeah, I mean, I was happy with, with getting out there in the seventh.
Frustrated with how it finished, but I think overall, compared to my last couple of outings, like the efficiency was better.
Landing breaking balls in zone early.
Landing the changeup in zone early.
So kinda all that stuff.
Yeah, the, the execution was much better.
So that's what I was happy about.
You're over 120 innings now this year, minors and majors combined.
I'm sure you've prepared for a bigger workload this year, but how does it feel kind of, I guess, getting to that point and, you know, still having a month left?
Just kind of the body overall, how do you feel about that?
I feel great.
Yeah, I feel really good.
I think, at this point you kind of learn how, you listen to your body.
So- Whether that's cutting back and, and stuff in the weight room or the training room, like whatever it is, you kinda learn those things and you listen to your body.
But overall I feel, I feel really good.
Yeah, you're talking about efficiency.
You had it two first innings very fast.
By the third inning you had only 40 pitches in three innings total.
But, I'm intrigued about a certain at bat with the New York hitter in the fourth inning.
You were down 3-nothing, and you came back and you got that out for zero out of the inning.
Yeah.
How important was that, getting that at bat in the rest of your outing?
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, you always wanna get the lead off guy.
I hate walking people, and I feel like that's been something that has been an issue for me this year.
So to get that lead off guy was huge.
And, and knowing when you're down 3-0, like, it's still really hard for them to hit the ball, so, just executing and taking it one pitch at a time.
And yeah, I mean, overall that, that was, that was huge to get that guy out.
Yeah.
And there was a situation that sometimes might dri- drive a young pitcher crazy.
You had five infielders below that little pop up there.
Uh-huh.
And Yeah.
Neither one of those, got it, and that's when the first hit of the game.
Can you talk about that?
Yeah, I don't know what happened.
I mean, maybe I shoulda, I shoulda took advantage of that and caught it, but, yeah, I mean that happens, so I, I try not to let it affect me and, and just get to the next pitch, so.
What's your thoughts about Hogan and, Elvis to when they came in to clean it up?
Oh yeah, they did awesome.
The entire bullpen, Luis, Elvis, Hogan, I mean, just, just a really good job.
You know, I left the, the game and it was still relatively close, so, for us to come out with the W there was, was huge.
You know, the hope is with the changeup, with more outings it gets more comfortable.
Is that, feeling that's been the case for you including today?
Yeah.
I mean, today I was really happy with it.
And I was just talking to Springs about it, kind of knowing when to throw it, who to throw it to, but I'm comfortable to throw it really in any count.
But you know, the one, the Culpepper at the end, maybe that was just the wrong pitch.
I'm happy with where I threw it.
But yeah, I mean, that was just a good swing on that pitch, but overall I'm, I'm happy with everything, yeah.
Okay.
Thank you.
